A special hat tip to Shay of the Booker Rising blog for bringing this to my attention. It appears Ms. Pamela Newton, young woman pictured above, is the first adult of record that has actually been cured of the oftentimes fatal disease, sickle cell anemia. The quick question that comes to mind is.....why has the mainstream media picked up on this amazing story? I have personal friends and acquaintances that have been tortured by this disorder and it boggles the imagination how such a breakthrough can take place and Ms. Newton is not splashed before the major media outlets. And of course, there is no longer a BET news division to highlight this information (Thank God for JC Watts' upcoming Black News venture) but it seems that a BET health blog that focuses on some of the ailments of celebrities makes the cut. Take a look at the latest information on this possible cure, courtesy of Courant.com:
Fifteen months ago, the pain from Pamela Newton's sickle cell disease was excruciating. She spent more time in the hospital than in her apartment. She was on 15 pain pills a day, all heavy narcotics. She was bleeding regularly and needed daily transfusions of platelets.
She had just months to live.
Today, doctors at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore say that Newton is one of the few adults in the world to be cured of sickle cell disease — and the first using an experimental bone marrow transplant that could cure thousands like her who have been told they will never get better.
Word of a breakthrough gives hope to the roughly 80,000 Americans — and millions around the world — who suffer from this debilitating and usually fatal disease, which is predominant among blacks and Hispanics.
"It could very much open things up," said Dr. John F. Tisdale, a senior investigator at the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute. "Everyone's cautiously optimistic."
What makes the Hopkins procedure different is that it allows patients to receive bone marrow from a donor who is not an exact match, overcoming a longtime obstacle to healing large numbers of people.
Sickle cell is an inherited blood disorder that affects red blood cells. Normally round, the cells become "C" shaped, like sickles, and pile up on one another, keeping them from properly supplying oxygen to the body. The patients, prone to infection and serious pain, typically live only into their 40s.
Until now, few have been cured and there has been little progress in developing new treatments. Only one drug has been approved for treatment of sickle cell. Painkillers and antibiotics help patients live longer, but nothing has addressed the core problem of the genetic defect.
Newton's hematologist, Dr. Robert Brodsky, and his colleagues say they hope to change that. They are trying to enroll 25 patients in a clinical trial.
For the article in its entirety, click on the link below:
Curing Sickle Cell Disease
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